Andrew Bird

Austra, The Unthanks and Richard Hawley set for No Direction Home 2012

New festival with focus on quality from team behind End of the Road

23 May 2012

End of the Road has been the latte-drinking, glam-camping Guardian reader's weekender of choice almost since it's inception in 2006. Picking up plaudits from The Times and The Guardian (of course) as well as an award for 'Best Small Festival' last year…

Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself

Reasonably consistent album of simple, emotional music from multi-instrumentalist smartypants

22 Feb 2012

(Bella Union) There are signs on Break It Yourself that multi-instrumentalist and genre-hopping smartypants Andrew Bird has mellowed out somewhat. The album is reasonably consistent and settles in a gentle neo-folk groove that shows off Bird’s…

Andrew Bird

Like being beaten with a roll of toilet paper

11 Aug 2010

‘I have nothing for you,’ states Bird at the opening of his act, in disappointingly prophetic fashion. The next hour drags on with reasons why he isn’t a ‘lad’ and the funny things his wife says. Like being beaten with a roll of toilet paper, Bird is…

Thao With The Get Down Stay Down - Know Better, Learn Faster

6 Jan 2010

(Kill Rock Stars) Someone once described Thao Nguyen as ‘like Sufjan Steven’s cute little sister’. She could also probably pass for a bouncier, chirpier cousin of Cat Power, or a more playful, joke-cracking relative of Natasha ‘Bat For Lashes…

David Byrne, The Streets and The Stranglers set for Edge Festival 2009

10 Jun 2009

David Byrne, The Streets, The Stranglers are amongst the highlights of the Edge Festival 2009 in Edinburgh. Other headliners include Múm, Enter Shikari, Mumford & Sons, Bluetones, Amanda Palmer, Andrew Bird, Emiliana Torrini and Foy Vance. Acts from…

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

22 Jan 2009

ALT.POP Crafted from hand claps, whistles, glockenspiels, violins, guitars and drums, this grower of an album from the intelligently eccentric Andrew Bird sneaks up on you after the third or fourth listen. The warm alt.pop melodies on Noble Beast…

Andrew Bird

7 Aug 2008

Ten years ago, obsessive Oasis fan Bird wondered where he'd be now. If he dreamed of being a run-of-the mill stand-up with perfectly amiable but less than outstanding material, then job's a good 'un.

Indian Summer

3 Jul 2007

Wilco are an important rock band. Not just entertaining, although they are often ass-shakingly so. Not just innovative and intelligent and experimental and heartfelt and unpredictable and honest, although they are all those things. No, Wilco are also a…

Indian Summer - Running Order

3 Jul 2007

14 SATURDAY • Wilco See preview. • Midlake Glorious 70s folk-rock inspired album The Trials of Van Occunapther was one of the albums of 2006. • The Rapture Scratchy punk funk with a slick disco edge from these hipper-than-hip-New…

Records - Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird

9 Apr 2007

ROCK The arch rock snobs on American music website Pitchfork decry this, the fourth Andrew Bird solo album, as brilliant, but not as good as his first three which were all pretty much perfect. Sadly, the colossal man hours required to be quite as…